Basket cover and the like



p 1936. A. H. SCHMIDTKE 2,054,045

BASKET COVER AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 16, 1934 Patented Sept. 8, 1936UNITED STATES BASKET COVER AND THE LIKE' Albert H. Schmidtke, St.Joseph, Mich., assignor to St. Joseph Iron Works, St. Joseph, Mich., acorporation of Michigan Application August 16, 1934, Serial No. 740.106

9 Claims.

My invention relates tostructures such as bushel basket covers whereinthin materials are secured to a marginal hoop, and has reference moreparticularly to the manner of fastening the '5 thin material to the hoopand also the type of hoop that may be employed therewith.

It is theprevailing practice in using bushel baskets and similarcontainers for shipping products, to pack the basket or containerheaping full and force the cover down over the heaping contentsproducing what is known as a bulge pack, the basket cover being held inplace by fastening same at suitable intervals therearound to the rim ofthe basket. Such covers are usually made of thin panels or slats of woodsecured to the top of a marginal hoop by staples which are drivendownwardly through the thin cover material intothe hoop and this notonly necessitates the use of rather substantial hoop stock to receiveand hold the staples, but even then the staples frequently pull loose'onaccount of the strain and pressure imposed on the cover panels or slatsby reason of the bulge pack.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide an improvedfastening for securing thin cover material to a marginal hoop; to engagethe fasteners with the cover panels or slats sufliciently far from theends thereof to insure a strong dependable connection; to arrange thefasteners so that they pass diagonally o-r outwardly through the hoop;to anchor the outer ends of the fasteners to the hoop so that the hoopis effectively locked against movement both outwardly and downwardlyfrom the cover materials or panels; to

provide panel and hoop attaching facilities which may be advantageouslyutilized to secure the ends of the hoop in proper relationship; topermit a laminated hoop to be readily and satisfactorily employed; andin general to provide a simple construction for basket covers and thelike which insures adequate strength to withstand the severe strains andabuse to which such structures are ordinarily subjected,-these and otherobjects being accomplished with the construction shown in theaccompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a top view of a basket cover constructed in accordance with myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the cover with a por- 50 tion broken away atone side;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.; V

Fig.4 is a fragmentary outside view of the cover edge showing the jointof the outer hoop 55 strip;

Fig. 5 is a similar view from the inside shpwing the joint of the innerhoop strip;

Fig. 6is a View similar to Fig. 3 showing a one piece hoop and amodified arrangement of the fastener; and I I Fig. '7 is a bottom viewof the structure of Fig. 6 showing the hoop joint. r

The cover shown in the accompanying drawing is of a type commonly usedwith bushel baskets and comprises a plurality of crossed panels I of 10thin material which are secured at their ends to the upper edge of ahoop 2, a top slat 3 also being employed which has the ends projectingoutwardly beyond the hoop 2 for engagementwith the basket handles in theusual manner for hold- 15 ing the cover in place on the basket,- saidslat 3 being preferably secured to the panels I and these panels beingheld together by the staples 4 which are clinched against the under sideof the lowermost panel. a

For securing the panels I and slat 3 to the hoop 2, staple likefasteners 5 are employed which are engaged diagonallythrough the panelsI and slat 3 at the inner side of the hoop 2 and have the legs 6extended outwardly and downwardly or ,25 diagonally through the hoop'2so that they project outwardly from said hoop 2 somewhat above the loweredge thereof, and the outer extremities I of these legs 6 are clincheddownwardly and inwardly against the lower marginal portion of the 30hoop as shown in Fig. 3 so that the hoop '2 is firmly secured to thepanels I and slat 3 and locked by the clinched ends 1 againstdisplacement both. downwardly. and outwardly from the ends of the panelsI and slat 3. Any desired form of hoop may be employed, as for example apre-formed lapped and stapled hoop similar to those commonly used inmaking basket covers, but I prefer a two ply construc' tion such asshown in Figs. 1 to 5 in which the .40 hoop, which is indicated as awhole at 2, comprises inner and outer bands 8 and 9 respectively whichare fastened together in the form of a laminated hoop by the diagonalstaples 5, said bands or laminations 8 and 9 being clamped togetherbetween the panels I and slat 3 and the clinched ends I of the staples.The ends of the bands 8 and 9 are butted together, preferably atdiametrically opposite sides of the cover as indicated at 8 and 9respectively, and the ends of each band are preferably stapled to theother band as indicated at H]. Obviously the: ends of the inner band 8will fit within and be held in place by the outer band 9 and to insureholding of the ends of the outer band 9 firmly against the inner band 8,a fastener 5 is preferably located in straddling relation at the joint 8so that one of the ends of the band 9 is held firmly against the band 8by the clinched outer end. I of one of the fastener legs and the otherend of said band 9 is likewise held firmly against the band 8 by theclinched outer end I of the other leg of the fastener.

Another form of hoop that may be used advantageously is shown in Figs. 6and '7 and comprises a single strip of material II, the ends of whichare held in the abutting end to end relation as indicated at II by afastener 5 which straddles the joint and has the legs thereof engagedrespectively with the ends of the hoop II as shown in Fig. 7, it beingunderstood that there are other fasteners 5 at intervals around the hoopI I which serve in the same manner as in the structure of Figs. 1 to 5to secure cover panels I and slat 3 to said hoop and to hold the hoop IIin the circular form.

Instead of clinching the outer ends of the staples 5 so that they areturned inwardly into the wood of the hoop 2 as shown in Figs. 3 and 4,said ends may be clinched under the lower edge of the hoop as shown atI2, in Figs. 6 and 7, it being understood, of course, that eitherclinched end arrangement "I or I2 may be used with the one piece hoop orthe laminated hoop or any other desired form of hoop.

With this diagonal fastening of the panels to the hoop, the middleportion of the staple is engaged with the panel or slat sufficiently farfrom the end to insure a strong, dependable connection. Moreover thestaples may be driven diagonally with little danger of splitting thehoop and when the staple ends are clinched into the outer side of orunder the hoop they serve to reinforce the hoop and the panels or slatsare locked so securely to the hoop that they do not pull away therefromwhen separating strains are imposed therein as in the case of the bulgepack.

.While I have for the purpose of illustration shown and described myinvention in connection with a particular type of basket cover, it isnot intended to be limited thereto, but may be used with other types ofcovers as well as in any other structure, as for example certain typesof basket bottoms, wherein thin material is secured to a marginal stripor band, and it is to be understood, therefore, that various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the principles of theinvention, the scope of which is to be determined by the appendedclaims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a structure of the class described the combination of a circularmat of thin material, a marginal hoop having one edge thereof overlappedby the edge portion of the mat, and fasteners anchored to the mat at theinner side of the hoop and extending obliquely through the hoop andhaving ends thereof that project at the outer side of and are clinchedagainst said hoop.

2. In a structure of the class described the combination of a circularmat of'thin material, a marginal hoop having one edge thereof overlappedby the edge portion of the mat, and staples at intervals along the hoopand having their middle portions engaged over the mat at the inner sideof the hoop and having legs that extend obliquely through the hoop andhave projecting ends at the outer side and near the other edge of thehoop and clinched thereagainst.

3. In a structure of the class described the combination of a circularmat of thin material, a laminated marginal hoop having the laminationsengaged edgewise against the edge portion of the mat, and fasteners thatextend through and clamp the laminations together and secure the mat tothe laminated hoop.

4. In a structure of the class described, the combination of a flatelement of thin material having a marginal reinforcing strip extendingalong and engaged edgewise against one side of said flat element, andfasteners extending obliquely through the strip, said fasteners beinganchored at the inner side of the strip to the thin material and havingprojecting ends at the outer side of and clinched against the strip.

5. In a structure of the class described, the combination of a fiatelement of thin material having a marginal reinforcing strip extendingalong and engaged edgewise against one side of said fiat element, andfasteners extending ob liquely through the strip, said fasteners beinganchored at the inner side of the strip to the thin material and havingprojecting portions at the outer side of the strip which are clinchedagainst and have the ends thereof embedded in the outer face of thestrip.

6. In a structure of the class described, the combination of a flatelement of thin material having a marginal reinforcing strip extendingalong and engaged edgewise against one side of said flat element, andfasteners extending obliquely through the strip, said fasteners beinganchored at the inner side of the strip to the thin material and havingportions which project at the outer side of the strip and are clinchedunder the edge of the reinforcing strip remote from the flat element.

'7. In a structure of the class described, the combination of a flatelement of thin material having a marginal reinforcing strip extendingalong and engaged edgewise against one side of said flat element, andfasteners anchored to the thin material at the inner side of thereinforcing strip and extending obliquely across the corner spacebetween the flat element and the reinforcing strip and projectingthrough the strip at the outer side thereof, the fastener portions whichproject through as aforesaid being clinched against the reinforcingstrip.

8. In a structure of the class described, the combination of a fiatelement of thin material having a marginal reinforcing strip extendingalong and engaged edgewise against one side of said flat element, andfasteners anchored to and extending through the thin material at theinner side of the reinforcing strip, each fastener having a pair ofspaced legs extending obliquely through the strip and clinchedthereagainst.

9. In a structure of the class described the combination of a flatelement of thin material, a reinforcing strip extending along andengaged edgewise against one side of said flat element, and fastenersextending sidewise through the strip, said fasteners being anchored atone side of the strip to the thin material and having projecting ends atthe other side of the strip clinched against the edge of the stripremote from the thin material.

ALBERT H. SCHMIDTKE.

